Cherry Blossom Could Bloom Early in Brooklyn Thanks To Warm Temps

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — Those hoping the blast of warm weather might prove Staten Island Chuck right and bring about an early spring with blooming cherry blossoms might have to wait a bit longer.

Experts said that while the blast of spring the city saw this week could increase the chance of early bloom times for cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New Yorkers' unofficial start to spring, the weather need to remain warm for several days in a row to really accelerate change.

"So, a couple of days in the 70s certainly accelerates the process," National Park Services Mark Litterst told news station WTOP. "But again, over the long haul, a couple of days isn’t going to make a noticeable difference."

Botanists at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden previously said the best conditions to trigger blooms happen when temperatures hover above 60-degrees for several days in a row.

"You'll see the buds of the early-blooming cherries like Prunus 'Okame' start to swell," said Brian Funk, curator of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in 2015. "Around this same time, you’ll also see the bud scales from the magnolias start to drop."

The amount of sun doesn't affect the bloom days, as flowers respond better to cloudy days, according to the garden.

The best weather for the cherry blossoms is a string of warm weather followed by temperatures dropping a bit after the blooming starts to extend their lifecycle, the garden said.

While peak bloom time is mid-March to mid-April, the city was treated to an early bloom season in Brooklyn for two years in a row from 2016 to 2017.

New Yorkers desperate for any sign of spring can keep track of the cherry blossom's bloom cycles with the Botanic Garden's "Cherrywatch" online tracker that starts to update once a day in March.

Image: Brooklyn Botanic Garden